Sheepshead Bay Piers

These piers, which lie along Emmons Avenue between Ocean Avenue and East 26th Street, are located in a neighborhood named for a fish native to the Atlantic coast all the way from Nova Scotia to the Gulf of Mexico. The silvery, black-banded Sheepshead fish, a member of the porgy family, is so called for its teeth, which resemble those of sheep. Sheepshead Bay’s name most likely dates back to 1844, when Benjamin Freeman built the first hotel in the area, The Sheepshead.